Strong start powers Falcons past IIT

MEQUON, Wis. -- Concordia Wisconsin took control from the opening draw and tallied six goals through the games first 15 minutes, as it never looked back for a 15-7 MWLC victory over a short-handed Illinois Institute of Technology team at Fitting Field.

THE BASICS
Final Score: Concordia Wisconsin 15, IIT 7
Location: Fitting Field (Mequon, Wis.)
Records: Concordia Wisconsin 4-3, 3-0 MWLC; IIT 2-3, 1-1 MWLC

HOW IT HAPPENED
- Concordia found themselves with scoring opportunities early and often, tallying 30 shots on goal to 10 for IIT. Fueling those opportunities was a Falcon defense that forced 40 turnovers, of which 31 were caused in the matchup.
- The Scarlet Hawks struggled to move the ball down the field during the opening half, going 8-of-20 on clears, and more times than not those failures were because of a stingy Falcons defense.
- Concordia Wisconsin dominated every statistical category in the victory and had seven players score, along with nine cause a turnover.
- An impressive all-around showing by junior Lauren Paquin (Waukesha, Wis.) highlighted the hosts, as she finished with two goals, two assists, 10 ground balls, three draw controls and eight caused turnovers. Her impact on the game was felt from start to finish.
- Other notable Falcon offensive performances on the afternoon were freshman Ciara Bond (White Bear Lake, Minn.) leading the scoring with four goals and sophomore Jenny Rudenga (Elmhurst, Ill.) posting two goals and two assists.
- Sophomore Nicole DeMeo (Niles, Ill.), junior Kristen Kennedy (London, Ontario) and senior Caitlin Henry (Lansing, Ill.) all added two goals apiece.
- Defensively, junior Ellie Woodman (Janesville, Wis.) contributed seven caused turnovers and six ground balls. Bond recorded four ground balls and four caused turnovers, while Henry ended with five ground balls, four draw control wins and five caused turnovers.
- Senior Allison Kurek (Chicago, Ill.) finished with a goal, two assists, four ground balls, five draw controls and two caused turnovers.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Paquin's career-best 10 ground balls tied the program's game record set by Veronika Metanova on March 16, 2016. As well, her career-high eight caused turnovers were tied for the third most in a game.
- Woodman's career-high seven caused turnovers were tied for the fifth most in a game in program history.
- The Falcons 31 caused turnovers set a new single-game program record.

THE OPPOSITION
- The Scarlet Hawks scoring was very concentrated, as Alyssa DeLuca found the net four times and Madison Meredith accounted for the other three goals, along with an assist. Jennifer Young was a strong presence in goal for the shorthanded opposition who only played 11 players, making 15 saves on 30 shots faced.

NEXT ON THE SCHEDULE
- Concordia Wisconsin travels to Hamline for a Friday MWLC contest at 6 pm.